1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a soldering tool, in particular a fingertip soldering tool.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Soldering tools in prior art suffer from a number of disadvantages:
a) It is known in essentially all prior art as far as the author knows that soldering tools & irons have handles which must be held by one hand at all times when soldering. Some references, just to name a few are Weller U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,264,449 & 3,410,472, Nockunas U.S. Pat. No. 2,558,192, Anton U.S. Pat. No. 2,724,041, Smith U.S. Pat. No. 2,973,422, Giles & Madden U.S. Pat. No. 2,558,192, Walton U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,654, Ogelsby U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,793, and Hombrecher U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,178. Having a handle on a soldering tool or iron gives rise to the classical problem of not being able to hold the wires, solder, and/or piece of interest in that same hand while trying to solder. There is only one other hand to hold such items. This problem is frustrating and is an awkwardness that has existed in soldering tools since they were first conceived. In an effort to satisfy this dire need, such inventions such as a wire clamp called the Panavice, U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,776, which allows you to clamp the wires into certain positions via adjustable clamps while the user solders, but it is time consuming to position such wires in the clamps and expensive to buy accessories every time one purchases a soldering iron. Many hobbyists and technicians often find themselves either mounting their piece or wires of interest into a vice-clamp to reduce the awkwardness of not being able to hold all the different elements involved in the soldering process. This process of vice-clamping in itself is awkward, time consuming, and many times incompatible with the work, leaving open the need for a better soldering tool design.
b) Since essentially all soldering irons have handles of some form for the hand, it takes some skill and patience to control where the actual tip of the soldering iron is going to touch. The handles on must soldering irons, such as the ones already mentioned in the referenced patents, require that the handle is built a certain distance away from the actual soldering tip usually because the heat from the tip needs ample distance to dissipate before it is felt by the human hand on the handle portion of the tool. This heat must be dissipated, but to also preserve precision and efficiency during soldering, Keeping the distance short (&lt;2") from the tip of the iron to the hand is crucial. Perhaps a good analogy is with a writing utensil. In order to get ample precision and speed in writing, the finger tips of the hand must be very close to where the actual lead hits the paper. Holding the hand away from the tip gives rise to an unbalanced, "wobbly" effect.
c) Most Prior art soldering irons such as Sylvester U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,465 or Hambrecher U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,178, are grossly inefficient electrically due mainly to the heat conduction away from the soldering tip through the means that energize the internal heating element and support the actual tip. One soldering tool in particular by Walton U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,654 (cited earlier) has a more electrically efficient solution for a heating element, but this iron doesn't solve the problems mentioned in a), b), d) & e).
d) Due to the rather large size of most heating elements in soldering tools, especially in the cases of soldering guns such as Nicosia U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,087 and Anton U.S. Pat. No. 2,724,041 (already cited), these tools cannot fit into very small places. In an exponentially component shrinking hi-tech world, fitting into small places is a necessity. In most prior art, soldering tools and irons have large tubular constructions. These tubular diameters are usually too large to allow insertion into constricted locations. The large sizes of irons also adds up to a lot of material expenses. Lastly, the larger irons reduce your market size as a product. Larger irons most likely cannot reach potential hi-tech surface mount assembly customers which need smaller soldering tools. A smaller iron can capture all markets from the hobbyist to the surface mounters if inexpensive to manufacturer.
e) Almost all prior art with tubular heating cores leave a larger portion of their hot (&gt;300 F) tubular member exposed to the surroundings. This can be unsafe for obvious reasons. It would be an advantage to reduce the amount of hot surface area exposed to the environment.